Story Sloane, III owns a gallery devoted to historic images of Houston and the surrounding area. In fact, he's devoted to preserving endangered visual artifacts, including restoring damaged images and researching/identifying unknown subjects. He has a fantastic collection. I've bought prints of his historic photos and given them as gifts.
He's posted a couple of photos I thought worth reposting here. The first is an undated aerial photo of the Gulf Freeway above roughly where U of H is located. My best guess is it was taken in the late 1940s or early '50s.
You can see Buff Stadium near the center.
Click here to view some of Story's vintage oil industry photos.
Click here to view some of Story's vintage oil industry photos.
The next photo is an undated aerial showing Hermann Park and the area around it. I've read that the Houston Zoo opened in 1922, but I think it was rather 'undeveloped' in its early years. I think they built enclosures and structures in the 1930s. If that's the Zoo under construction near the upper-right corner, the photo was taken in the '30s.
You can see Rice University (then Institute) and Hermann Hospital in the upper-left corner. The area at the bottom is South MacGregor Way and Brays Bayou. Large houses (under construction) are in the foreground.
I can't recall where I got the next photo, but the file name indicates it came off Facebook. (Wish I could give proper credit to the poster.) It shows Houston Municipal Airport in 1933. Of course, Hobby Airport would be built several decades later in the open space beyond the runways.
